News & Updates
GMAF2017 Saturday Night at 10 Wyndham!
Finally, more #GMAF2017 announcements!
We’ve had some time to let all the announcements settle in, we left ya hanging a few days, and now it’s time for our final nighttime performance announcements of the 7th annual GAIN Music & Arts Festival!
Wakeless (photo c. 2013) played year 1, 2 & 5 of our annual festival with 1 member now having played every festival except year 6! Members of Wakeless are also in Don’t Mind Dyin’ who are playing this years festival!
Our Saturday, March 4, 2017 10 Wyndham St (Van Gogh’s Ear, DSTRCT & DSTRCT Lounge) lineup came together through a combination of luck & timing. Both factors helped make this years 5 day festival lineup a special one that is probably one of our best all-around festival lineups and one that will be hard to top, if I do say so myself!
Now don’t get me wrong, we’ve put some epic festivals together and I’ve loved every festival lineup I’ve been a part of putting together over the past 7 years as well. I don’t have any regrets about any band or musician choices we’ve made over the past years either.
However, in looking back at past years festivals I’ve been given an opportunity to really examine each festival and analyze both the negative and positive aspects from a more distant view than when in the midst of putting that particular year together.
Adrian Raso is one of the GMAF2017 Headlining Acts!
Some years we had bands drop last minute, others we spent too much time on one aspect of the festival while loosing sight on other aspects. On a few occasions we ended up having bands play another show the week before, or after the festival, ultimately affecting their draw and the fest as a whole.
This year we managed to line all our ducks up early and had some artists jump on that we’d been working with over the past few years who really deserved to be on the festival stage. Some musicians on this years fest I’d wanted to work with for years and just happened to be lining up tours for the same time frame as the fest, which made the timing perfect. Other choices on this year were simply no brainers!
It’s with that that we’re proud to announce our Saturday, March 4, 2017 10 Wyndham St lineup!
Van Gogh’s Ear – Hudson Say, Limestone Chorus, Bad Reed, Mattie Leon & Born in the 90’s
DSTRCT – Adrian Raso, Kayko, Kennedy 7 & Jeremy & the Pink Band (ft members of Mandroid Echostar!)
DSTRCT Lounge – Don’t Mind Dyin’, A-Fos & the Rude Youth with a special presentation ft Cease Fire (YYZ, Braden K & Navarro), DJ S-One & the one and only Saturdae Jonez (aka D’eve Archer)!
We’ve got a whole lot more to announce including our Festival Music Weekends in Downtown Guelph Showcases as well as more tickets, including physicals so stay posted!
A few other surprises may be popping up along the way too!
** Follow all the updates & news on social media via #GMAF2017 **
More Guelph Music History & GMAF2017 Saturday Announcements!
This years historic theme for our 7th annual festival gave us the opportunity to take a new perspective on how we usually approach booking for our the fest. It gave us a chance to reflect and look back at some of the bands, musicians, establishments and more importantly, people who helped shape not only our annual festival but also the Guelph music scene as a whole.
Chase Robbs. Tech extraordinaire & 1 of 3 founding members of GAIN Music. Photo courtesy Brandon Marsh Photography
It also gave us the opportunity to take a look at our own history both as a company and also as a festival to share our own experiences growing up in a changing city and in an industry that seemed to have an uncertain future.
I’ve lived in Guelph since 2000 and in the 17 years since then I’ve seen everything from downtown venues changing their programming to suit whatever trend was hitting the bar scene that year, to spaces being bought out by a competitor who had a different vision for the venue than local & live music. Either that or they just flat out closed down due to one or any number of other factors.
There was even one space that was used as not only a thrift / antique shop but also a space for bands and community members to host fundraisers, charity shows, or just regular shows, who were forced out only to have the building paved over for a parking lot. Sounds familiar, right.
Trasheteria – Aug 20, 2004 Guelph Mercury file photo
In all of this we also saw the end of an era when the Trasheteria, located at 52 Macdonell St, changed ownership. The new owners decided to take the venue in another direction and after a name change and a few years has had a full demo and rebuild and is now a downtown eatery who hosts dj’s and cover bands on weekends. A stage that once hosted the likes of the Dillinger Escape Plan, Wintersleep, Gob, Between the Buried & Me, Moneen, Alexisonfire, and even Ice-T, along with so many more, is gone and replaced with a much smaller one to suit a nightclub.
The Shadow, was another venue that was once used for a variety of punk, metal, rock & hip hop shows and was a hotspot for locals for anything underground & live. A small dingy room that was perfect for young and upcoming local bands looking for their first show or their 30th. The hole in the wall where so many memories were made has now become a storage space below The Western.
Ch-ch-ch-changes!
Through my teens and into my early 20’s I saw the decline and near end of big name touring acts playing Guelph, less festival circuits hitting the area, poor attendance at major festivals and events, a drop in record sales leading to the closing of local music stores, and an environment that seemed all but hellbent on ending local and live music as we knew it…
D’eve Archer (aka Saturdae Jonez) played year 1 & 6 of our annual festival and is returning once again this year for a very special showcase at the Guelph Civic Museum on Saturday, March 4, 2017!!
It was from this environment that that our annual festival was born.
We knew there was talent out there, just most of it was being overlooked or pushed aside for one reason or another. We chose 13 Guelph bands that we felt best represented the Guelph sounds at the time. Everything from solo acts to metal bands to indie and everything in between across all 3 floors of 10 Wyndham St, then known as Van Gogh’s Ear.
It’s amazing we pulled it off, but we did.
One of the most important aspects, aside from having a team willing to put in the hours and work, especially in our first year was the location. Anyone who has ever thrown a show, festival or event knows that as cliché and over-used as the sayings are, location matters. With venues and spaces closing or not being available or open to live music it’s all about utilizing what you’ve got. Each year we’ve aimed to think outside the box as it’s where the idea to take over all 3 floors of 10 Wyndham St came from in the first place.
After all, an equally important aspect to creating any art form is having an outlet or space to showcase it. Often the venue itself is the most important piece of the show.
As our festival expands and as we explore more spaces that Downtown Guelph has to offer we wanted to utilize spaces and venues that made sense to this years theme.
This year we’re very proud to present a very special showcase that will be happening at the Guelph Civic Museum and features Guelph’s own Saturdae Jonez (aka D’eve Archer) performing on Saturday, March 4th, 2017!!!
We like to push the envelope at GAIN Music but know above all the importance of proper production and audio no matter where the show and no matter what the event. We paid more attention to that this year and are excited for each showcase happening across all 5 days of this years fest!
This year more than others we’ve aimed to weave together art, music and history not only through the bands we’ve chosen for our 2017 lineup but also in the spaces & venues we’ve chosen this year as well!
We hope you’re excited for the rest of our announcements and keep following all the updates as we’ll be releasing a few special features through this site as we near the festival!
** Follow all the updates & news on social media via #GMAF2017 **
A Brief History & a few Saturday GMAF2017 Announcements!
The 1st year of our festival in 2011 saw 13 Guelph based bands playing 3 stages across all 3 floors of 10 Wyndham St, back then known only as Van Gogh’s Ear, on a Thursday night in March. Since then we’ve gone through quite the learning and growing curve.
Year 2 festival lineup. Similar poster design to year 1 with a few small upgrades!
In year 2 we maintained the same format as our first festival and kept the festival on a Thursday night, but this time around with 15 bands. Year 3 was also on a Thursday night and was the first time we asked Fiction Design to take on the festival artwork and we cut the roster back down to 13 bands.
Year 4 was the first time the Fest got a chance for a Friday night showcase and by year 5 we’d hit 2 milestones as not only had the fest become a 2 day event but we’d also reached our goal of making it to 5 years of the festival! In year 6 we undertook a massive 6 day festival in our circus style festivities taking over various spaces across downtown Guelph!
Now, going into year 7, we’re taking a look back at prior festivals and taking lessons from our own history.
While putting together this years lineup a lot of factors came into play as they do every year. Although we wanted headliners the fest still had to be affordable and maintain ‘Guelph’ connections of some kind. There were also other elements and touches from prior festivals that we wanted to maintain this year, in particular a few of the Saturday daytime events. If something’s working, don’t change it!
“Guelph’s The Kramdens are marking their silver anniversary with the release of NO ONE HERE IS REFLECTING ANY LIGHT. Many of its songs have never been heard outside of their studio. This marks a departure from the band’s familiar mode of workshopping songs in front of live audiences, fine-tuning them, then finally committing to them. It is, after all, in front of live audiences where The Kramdens cultivated their reputation as one of Canada’s best live acts, playing anywhere and everywhere from backyards to festivals, bars to national television.”
In saying that, we’re very excited to being to announce some of our Saturday, March 4th, 2017 daytime events!
This year the fantastic folks at Guelph’s own Jam School will taking part in this years festival once again for a Saturday afternoon showcase at Van Gogh’s Ear. In addition to the Jam School show since year 5 we’ve also been running a portion of our festival that we’ve named ‘Dinnertainment’ that has been very well received since its inaugural run in 2015.
It began as a way to transition the daytime events & shows into the evening portion of the festival on Saturday and involved solo, duo and trio acts performing on the Van Gogh’s Ear stage over dinnertime on the main floor stage.
This year we’ve added a very special, very ‘Guelph’ element to this years Saturday daytime / evening festivities! We’re very proud to announce that The Kramdens are going to be this years Dinnertainment hosts!!
It’s not often that you get to have a band that just celebrated their 25th anniversary together host one of your festival events, but we get that honour and privilege this year! To say that we’re excited for this portion of the evening is an understatement!
Along with this stellar addition to our lineup we’ll be giving more details on all the Festival Showcases that we’ve already announced as well continue to make announcements about a few more of the fantastic showcases that we’ve got lined up for Saturday, March 4th, 2017 & Sunday, March 5th, 2017 during this years GMAF2017.
Including, but not limited to, our Music Weekends in Downtown Guelph presentation (in conjunction with the DGBA), this years Art Shows, a few smaller shows at some new locations, the night show at 10 Wyndham, our closing show on Sunday… and who knows, a few other things may just Pop-Up here and there too…
Believe me when I say we’ve got a lot in store this year!
** Follow all the updates & news on social media via #GMAF2017 **
Metal on the 3rd – GMAF2017 in the DSTRCT Lounge
Year 1 lineup!
Each of our annual festivals have had new themes to explore and stories to tell that get expressed both through the lineups chosen for that particular year and also through how it is received by the audience taking part in that particular festival.
There are always new challenges and obstacles to face and overcome in putting together such large events with so many moving pieces. Numerous artists, musicians, performers, techs & dj’s to make sure are kept in the loop and up to date. Hours, weeks and months of notes, ideas, emails, coordinating meetings, editing and re-editing docs, forms & graphics, other jobs, obligations and tasks…
Then after months of running around and coordinating you never really know how everything will turn out or be received by the audience until the moment the show starts!
Will the theme be understood and come through? Will the audience understand why certain bands played while others didn’t? …
Each festival has it’s own story to tell and questions to wonder about right up until the moment the whole thing kicks off. Then it’s just a matter of making it happen. Each band has it’s own story to tell as well. Both as a band and as individuals. These stories are expressed not only through the music they create & ultimately perform on stage but also through its reception by the crowd.
We’re honoured to be able to facilitate this process and hopefully connect fans with their new favourite local band! Our lineup this year reflects all of this and we’re excited for all the new stories, fans, friends, and ultimately family, that will be created and shared this year!
Without further delay here is the Friday, March 3rd, 2017 DSTRCT Lounge lineup:
Starved at the Root (Orillia, ON), Unbowed (Guelph, ON), My Missing Half (Boston, MA)
For those who have attended any of our festivals know that during our festival we tend to use the 3rd floor at 10 Wyndham to showcase some of our hidden gems or bands who we feel are worth the climb up 3 flights of stairs to see. These bands tend to be a bit on the heavier side as well and so the 3rd floor, now called the DSTRCT Lounge, has had a tradition of being called the “metal floor” during the festival.
Or, as we’ve dubbed it, Metal on the 3rd!
It’s a tradition that continues this year and we couldn’t be more excited to showcase these bands on this years festival stage! This show is also the second portion of the Friday night KronikNoise Promotions presentation that was announced earlier today and also features 3 bands that you should also be keeping an eye on over the next few years. Each band this year is going to be a real treat!
We also have another surprise for you as well. We’ve been hearing a lot of talk and people asking about an emo / alternative dj night. Well, ask and thou shall receive! Once the last band wraps up we’re going to be hosting our very first GAIN Music Emo Night!
More details on this, the bands performing on Friday, March 3 & more so keep posted! So much more to come!
** Follow all the updates & news on social media via #GMAF2017 **
GMAF2017 Friday DSTRCT Showcase!
One of the 1st times KronikNoise had The Healing on the DSTRCT stage back in June 2015 for Rick’s annual birthday bash – KRONIKFEST! Poster courtesy Leisha N
Ok, first off a quick recap of what we’ve announced so far:
Our pre-fest blurb, the Wednesday Red Brick & Lounge and Thursday DSTRCT & Lounge showcases as well as the Friday night Van Gogh’s Ear weekend opener just a few short hours ago!
Wow!
So much happening already and so much to look forward to!
That means we’ve still got the Friday DSTRCT & Lounge evening lineups, the Saturday daytime, evening & nighttime events as well as the Sunday closing show to announce… Not to mention the winners of our first online contest! << ** If you want a chance to win weekend tickets for year 7 of our annual festival post your answers to the question in the link here ** <<
Better get to our announcements first though!
As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, we’ve really gone back to our roots this year and have outdone ourselves in our weekend lineup at 10 Wyndham, our Fest Headquarters!
We’ve also teamed up once again this year with the one and only Rick Hall of KronikNoise Promotions to help us choose a few of the weekend bands on this years fest. Can you tell which ones?!
Playing at DSTRCT on Friday, March 3rd, 2017 are:
Drag the Lake (Toronto, ON), The Healing (London, ON), The Nasties (Guelph, ON) & The Stanfields (Halifax, NS)!!!
For those of you who have followed GAIN Music over the past few years you’ll know that The Stanfields are among the first agency signed bands that we worked with starting way back in 2011!
It’s been awhile since the bands played Guelph and we felt it only suiting they headline our Friday night festivities. If you haven’t seen them before just imagine what East Coast celtic-punk-rock might sound like and you’ll start to get an idea of their sound. You’ll have to be at our festival in March to truly experience it though 😉
Do yourself a favour and check these guys out at this years GAIN Music & Arts Festival happening March 1st – 5th, 2017. They definitely put on one hell of a show, that’s for sure!
There’s really not much we can say about The Nasties other than that they’re the true embodiment of punk rock. They play fast, hard and loud and will make you feel like you’re 14 and at your first punk show all over again.
No holds bar these guys single-handedly keep the Guelph punk rock scene alive and kicking by sticking with the tried & tested motto of “play and play and play”! With bi-monthly & monthly shows at the Jimmy Jazz (52 Macdonell St) they give touring & area bands, small and big names alike, a local to play with and a stage to play on with beers aplenty!
The year 5 KronikNoise promo spot courtesy Pulp Free Graphics!
These guys were a no-brainer for this years festival as not only are they the perfect co-headlining band for The Stanfields but are also some of the nicest guys you’ll ever have the chance to meet. Grab your whiskey (or vodka) and pickle brine and let’s get ‘er done!
The two KronikNoise presentations on this years festival are absolutely stellar to say the least! Both have played the DSTRCT stage a few times in the past and have impressed the Guelph audience at each showing.
Both are comprised of hard working, talented & dedicated musicians who are doing everything they can to get their bands names out there and we’re honoured to be a part of their journey as bands.
This years festival is not only about looking back but looking at some of the upcoming bands to keep an eye on and both of these bands fit that description. We’re excited to have them showcased on this years festival amongst so many other talented musicians and bands!
We really can’t wait for this years festivities and we hope you’re excited too! Get ready for our DSTRCT Lounge lineup announcements coming up next!
** Follow all the updates & news on social media via #GMAF2017 **
Year 7 of our Festival, it’s Meaning & More Band Announcements!
Over the past few days we’ve been throwing a lot of information at you about our upcoming annual festival and today is be no exception!
Though our 7th annual festival may be trimmed down from last year we still have a lot of announcements to make and we want to be sure that you know not only which bands are playing our upcoming festival and when, but also why they were chosen and what sets them apart from the numerous other bands who could have been chosen in their place.
The Kerouacs out of Niagara Falls, Ontario will be playing the Van Gogh’s Ear stage Friday, March 3rd, 2017!
This year we’ve honed in on a few key showcases spanning 5 days and utilizing a handful of venues & spaces in the downtown Guelph core while maintaining the 10 Wyndham Complex (DSTRCT, DSTRCT Lounge, Van Gogh’s Ear) as the Festival Main Stage. The bands we chose based on a variety of factors and range in genre from folk to metal to electronic to acoustic and everything in between.
We really feel we put a strong lineup together this year and it is in that spirit that we are proud to announce our Friday, March 3rd, 2017 Van Gogh’s Ear lineup!
Redsteps (Toronto, ON), West Hammock (Oshawa/Guelph, ON), Oh Geronimo (Burlington, ON) & The Kerouacs (Niagara Falls, ON)
Over the next few weeks leading up to the festival we’ll be posting blogs about all the various festival bands, Guelph & GAIN Music history tidbits here, along with some hints and clues to questions we’ll be posting on our social media sites (Facebook, Instagram & Twitter) for ticket giveaways!
This years festival is special in many ways, just as every year of our festival is. It’s unique and has it’s own energy surrounding it. Year 7 isn’t as chaotic or hectic as year 6. It isn’t the same sort of milestone as year 5, nor is it as young and formative as years 3 & 4 or 1 & 2. Year 7 looks to the future while learning from its past.
We’re looking ahead to the future of not only to this festival but to other community building projects that we can be a part of as we grow and build within the community of Guelph!
More news and band announcements to come!
** Follow all the updates & news on our social media via #GMAF2017 **
Year 7 Festival Lineup Announcements!
Skye Wallace is the GAIN Music Artist of the Month for March and will be performing on Wednesday, March 1st, 2017 at the Red Brick Café as a part of the GMAF2017 kick-off festivities!
We’re a few days into January and that generally means that the announcements for our annual festival lineup are flowing from our social media sites, and that I’m also scrambling to make sure every detail is getting attended to before our festival kicks off on March 1st, 2017!
In putting this years festival together a lot of things came to mind when considering the lineup. I wanted to be sure we were honouring our initial festival vision while at the same time learning from past mistakes or oversights. Each year going into our festival I know there are always elements that I’ve overlooked, or that something will come up that is just simply beyond our control that I either have to utilize down the road or scrap entirely. Each year there are also many things that just fall nicely into place with programming without even intending it to.
Photo courtesy Margery Thomas
This year I did my best to listen to advice given to me from other years and also to be more mindful of deadlines. Not only deadlines for the team but for myself as well. There was also a voice ringing in my head coming back from years ago by someone who helped get this whole crazy thing off the ground, Chase Robbs. He always reminded me to keep it simple. Sometimes as much as the crazy, huge, extravagant ideas may seem appealing, they tend to ultimately result in a lot of running around and effort for a minimum return.
It was with that in mind that this year’s lineup was put together and we’re now two days into announcements!
Our 1st showcase lands on March 1st, 2017 at the Red Brick Café and features Skye Wallace who is also the GAIN Music ‘Artist of the Month’ for March (more on this showcase in an upcoming post!). The 2nd Wednesday night show is in the DSTRCT Lounge in conjunction with the weekly GMarket / Arts night and features Guelph’s New Old (more on this showcase coming soon too!)
Performing on the DSTRCT stage in early 2016 w/ Frenemy.
The Thursday, March 2nd showcases will be hosted at DSTRCT & the DSTRCT Lounge. The Lounge show details are still to come, but the DSTRCT showcase is one you will not want to miss! It features Guelph’s Cavan Bros. who will be taking over the DSTRCT stage for a 2+ hour long compilation mash-up set of a bunch of their projects! Featuring songs from Sinister Trailer Park Magic, (U) the Band, Got Social & The Long Dark Road all in one big, long, epic set!
In addition to this mash-up there will be another mash-up of sorts on this same night as well. This one, features a man who can only be described as a human hurricane, is a part of multiple projects and has played a bunch of shows on various Guelph & area stages over the past few years. While moving here for school a few years back the local music scene took him in as one of it’s own and he’s began to make a name for himself as one of Guelph’s craziest and unique performers
We’re very excited to announce that opening for the Cavan Bros. on the Thursday night Festival showcase will be Derek Schaller along his various projects including, but not limited to, Frenemy, White Girl Wasted & Survived the Zombies!
More to come on this show and the rest of the festival!
** Follow all the updates on social media via #GMAF2017 **
Back to Our Roots for Our 2017 Festival
I’m always excited (translation: crazy) as our annual festival approaches. It’s an unpredictable time of year where a lot can happen in a short span of time. With so much going on and so much to do in preparation for our upcoming festival it’s easy to get lost in work and not leave the house.
Then there are all the great shows, events and showcases leading up to our March festivities!
This month alone we’ve lined up 3 amazing showcases with a band who played our festival last year and who are also on the GAIN Music roster. HIGHPARK will be featured on a stripped down show at the Red Brick Café on Wednesday, January 4, 2017; another Red Brick show later this month as a part of the Music Weekends in Downtown Guelph series with The Medicine Hat (who have also played our festival and many shows with us in the past); and a final show at DSTRCT on January 27, 2017.I’ve mentioned it in posts in the past but I almost feel this is when Guelph feels so alive. Despite the cold and snow we find ways to throw shows, host events and get people out and spending time together with great music & friends. It’s why for us at GAIN Music January marks the start of ‘Festival Season’!
Off the Floor Fest hosted by Eleven Presents… lands in late January, Hillside Inside in mid-February, our festival in early March, Kazoo!Fest in April along with Guelph’s 190th bday, KronikFest in June and so much more that we’ve got planned in between!
With all this going on we’ve decided to take a bit of a step back for our 7th annual festival. We’re taking look at Guelph & GAIN Music through a historic lens and using some new spaces and venues this year while maintaining 10 Wyndham as the Festival Headquarters / Main Stage.
If you’ve been to any of our festivals in the past you may recognize some of the bands performing on this years fest from other years festivals as well (check old fest posters below!) Or if you’ve been to any DSTRCT shows over the past few years you may also recognize some of the bands playing year 7 of our annual festival too!
Some have been bands for years, some are new incarnations of older Guelph based bands, while others are fun projects that deserve a festival setting. There are many bands we’ve worked with for years and some only have recently started working with and felt the festival was the perfect way for them to kick off 2017.
Keep an eye on these as they’ll be popping up on various artists social media sites over the next few months!
In many ways, this years festival is going back to it’s roots. Keeping it a simple, affordable, local, high production blowout all while maintaining our vision to include multiple venues, spaces & local businesses that all themselves support live music, and, more importantly, community.
Many ideas and many bands suggested for this years festival were not fully realized or did not work out but ultimately I feel this was beneficial to us as a team because it meant that we have plenty of ideas and bands for years 8, 9 & hopefully 10 of this great, local annual festival.
The vision to create a festival for young and emerging artists and bands and musicians
** Follow all the updates on social media via #GMAF2017 **
Check out some past festival flyers & lineups!
Growth
Over the past few years we’ve grown quite a bit and with each new growth comes a chance to host a whole new type of event and reach out to a whole new audience. It gives us opportunities to expand our community and share in new genres of music and new ideas.
Be it politically driven or straight from the heart, music communicates something that words often can’t. It gives us the opportunity to vent, get lost, contemplate, connect; not to mention the lasting impressions that it can leave on one’s life. Songs reminding you of people, pets, places, things, or younger days in general.
Throwback to when we had Die Mannequin play Van Gogh’s Ear – Oct 19, 2013. Pictured is GAIN Member’s 1st hire, Liam Frith. Photo courtesy Brandon Marsh Photography
We’re excited for these new opportunities and to be able to work with more musicians, artists and more members of our community as a whole. GAIN Music has always been about encouraging community. It brings people together and with that means change, adjustments and growth.
We’re going to be undergoing these ourselves as we draw nearer to 2017 and are looking forward to reaching out further into our community to encourage a positive change, both as a company and as individuals.
In addition to announcing our 2017 festival and lineup over the next few weeks we’ve also had a few additions to our roster that we’ll be announcing in 2017 along with a few other partnerships opportunities that will help our events reach a whole new audience.
Never be afraid to try something new.
The Passing of a Legend: Paul MacLeod
It’s been a surreal few days here in the Guelph & KW music scenes as we lost a true legend this past weekend with the passing of Paul MacLeod. I’ve been fairly quiet as far as posting or writing about this as although I knew Paul well, there were many more who knew him better than I did who have spoken more eloquently than I could about the man’s life.
Paul was among the first musicians that I’d met when I was hired at the Jimmy Jazz back in 2004 and I knew immediately that he was someone special. He was so humble about his talents and always played with such passion, even if there were only a handful of people in the room. He made sure they felt it and seemed almost a giant when on stage. Well spoken, intelligent and he had a wealth of musical knowledge & know-how. He knew things that no one else knew about music & musicians, especially the local scene. The history, it’s current state, what it has in store down the road, and all the in-betweens. And he was always happy to teach and share.
Many regulars to the Jazz on Monday nights as well as his regulars at gigs in KW would be known to make requests to hear him play certain covers as Paul had a way of making them sound like a totally different and new songs.
He was a gem in both the Guelph & KW music scenes, and would continually surprise newcomers who had never seen him play before. The most common reaction was surprise over the fact that such a talent lived right in their own back yards and they’d never heard of him before.
As someone who works in the music industry this is unfortunately not an uncommon reaction from many newcomers to shows as there are a ton of amazingly talented musicians currently active in our own back yards. With Paul though it was especially true. More often than not the words “He’s from this area?!”, or something of the likes, could be heard between songs at his shows.
Talented, humble, kind, caring, witty and always there for good conversation or just an ear to listen. He will be missed and our thoughts are with his family, close friends and fans during their time of mourning.
RIP Paul MacLeod – rest easy my friend
Nik
